Paxil withdrawals...YUCK!

[kellybean]

Can anyone give advice on how to get through the withdrawals when coming off of Paxil. I got through the 20mg to 10 mg withdrawals. I didn't take a pill at all Friday and Saturday, but today I had to take 5mg to ease the "zaps". I feel terrible!! Please help!!![img]smileys/smilies_06.gif[/img]

[eekelsey]

Hey there! I'm NOT a medical professional but I have gone off different
kinds of antidepressants before including Paxil and Paxil CR.

The brain zaps will go away completely after about 2 weeks.Make sure
your doctor knows you're stopping the medication and contact him or her
if things get a lot worse (you wet your pants, start shaking, or something.
You won't v*.)

Hang in there, don't drive until the zaps go away if you can help it.
There is life after Paxil!

[meercat]

Oh man!! Those Paxil withdrawals are HORRIBLE aren't they??? I KNOW!!!
I was on them a few years back, and if i just even missed one dose....WOWWWWWWW...i would feel like i'd been hit by a truck!! And when you turn your head...the world has to catch up to it!!

When you say "zaps", are you referring to the feeling you get in your head? Like what i call, brain zaps? It feels like electrical impulses zapping in your head, you almost feel like you're about to pass out for a split second, but you don't!! Cuz i'm getting those now, after being off of Zoloft for 2 weeks....i hate them!!!

All i can tell you is to just grin and bear it...i know that's hard to do...VERY HARD, but that's the only thing i can tell ya, cuz eventually the withdrawals will finally come to an end! I swear sometimes that the medical profession and the pharmaceutical companies MAKE it that once you're on a med, you'll have to stay on them forever, just because of the side effects and withdrawals we get from trying to help ourselves and get off of them!! Pretty sneaky, if you ask me hehehe!

I hope you start feeling better real soon!! Keep us posted, ok?

God bless!

Paula :-)

[madisonsmom]

I have had something similar coming off of Effexor. I did not think I would EVER get off of it. I had the nausea and brain zaps. I felt like I had the flu. It took me 12 weeks to get off of it. I am SO glad I am off of it too.


Just wean as slowly as possible. Instead of missing 2 days, maybe try every other day. When you feel good on that then try missing 2 days, then take it for 1 day...etc. Adjust the dose the same way...know what I mean?[img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]


I feel for you! It sucks. Paxil is one of the hardest things to come off of!Edited by: madisonsmom

[hollyjean]

Hi, i went through effexor withdrawal recently too and it took me a
long time to come off. Are the tablet capsules? Maybe you can open them
up and take a few of the granules out each day so it gradually gets
less. Thats what i had to do. The withdrawal does feel horrible, it was
hard for me bacause no one around me understood what was happening but
it does ease with time. I am now completely off meds so if i can do it,
you can too *hugs*

[bexcelica]

That happened to me when I came off a medicine. Zaps is a great way to
describe it, I never could describe the feeling. My therapist kinda
just weened me off, so I didnt have troubles. I felt the zaps when I
forgot to take it... I would forget for days at a time.

[tayda]

Kinda scarey stuff... amazing how something that can be truely beneficial for you at a point in your life, can screw you up when you try to stop them.


I hope yall feel better.

[japa]

Well, it's too late now, but you should not have gone from 10 to 0 mg. You should have done the 5 mg for several days, and then gone down to zero. You would have felt next to nothing. Oh well.

Can anyone give advice on how to get through the withdrawals when coming off of Paxil. I got through the 20mg to 10 mg withdrawals. I didn't take a pill at all Friday and Saturday, but today I had to take 5mg to ease the "zaps". I feel terrible!! Please help!!![img]smileys/smilies_06.gif[/img]

[japa]

Oh, and it's strange, but this "zap" thing, I don't understand what that is. I have never had any problems stopping either Paxil or Lexapro, both of which I have taken. Guess everyone really is different.

[liriodendron]

They don't say anything about that in their TV commercials with the
cute little smiley blob creatures. What a shame. I hope it was at least
effective treatment for you.

[meercat]

LOL of couse they won't tell you that stuff on the ads...they only want you to hear the benefits, not the side effects or withdrawals. They're not stupid!! hehe!

Those of you who h aven't had these "zaps" can consider yourselves very lucky. But it seems more common, than not! A good consolation is to just remember, eventually they will go away! :-) Remember, these anti-anxiety/depressants are changing the brain chemistry, so it only makes sense that once ya go off of them, you'll feel SOME kind of affect in the head/brain.

Hang in there :-)

[kellybean]

Hey all,


Thanks so much for your concerns!! I had to take 10mgs again to get rid of the zaps, so maybe tomrrow I will try 5 mgs. I will alternate 5 and 10 for then next week, then try 5 for a week. OMG, this is horrible!!!! I really thought I was going to v*! Thank you again for your concerns, I really appreciate it!!![img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]


Kelly

[meercat]

Not a problem, that's what we're here for :-)

[HDogg]

Yup, I had the "brain zaps" too when I came off Effexor three years ago. I was off meds for about a year and a half, then had to start taking them again. Now I'm on Paxil. I am not looking forward to the withdrawal symptoms. I want to quit taking them late summer 2006, because I'm going to start making babies next December. So I still have awhile. But I know the pain. Ugh.

[smaupi]

My doctor put me on paxil and after about 2 doses, I got really sick, felt like I was going to v* for about 48 hours (but never did, you know how us emets work). I thought it seemed kind of ironic, to be on a drug because I have a fear of being ill, and it made me really ill! God is funny sometimes!

[meercat]

Yes God sure does have a sense of humor, doesn't He? lol But ya know He doesn't ever give us what we can't handle...and some things He hands our way, may make us think we're being punished for something, but in reality, He is only trying to strengthen us! If only we learn to accept it. :-)

[*mandi*]

I absolutely hated getting off of Paxil..I went through horrible withdrawl. have you spoke to your doctor about it? He/She could give you the best advice on how to ween yourself off of it.


I went through the "Brain Zaps" myself. I hated that feeling. But it went away after about 2 weeks. Hang in there!

[kellybean]

My doctor knows all about it. She told me how to wean off of it. I took 10mg yesterday and 5 today. I haven't had any zaps yet, so hopefully I will be alright. *crosses fingers*